I don’t get to use the tag Grand Landscape so this is a red letter image. Saltira translates into saltwater lagoon. The town nearby sells salt by the truck load. A natural lagoon that is known for it’s grey whales, it gets it’s salt from shallow ponds that have been diked and the sea water evaporates.
I walked around a bit before I found this composition. The cloud cover was really light so that I had good light yet still a sky with clouds. Those black holes are just spots where the salt had dried into elevated crusty forms where the light didn’t enter. I built the composition around them.
D810, 24-70mm
I have added a version without the holes in the salt. What do you think? Which is better.
You should try using the grand landscape tag more often Igor, this is really wonderful. It just has a very clean and crisp feeling to it. The wide open vista, and the perspective distortion of the wide angle lens do a great job of showcasing the salt formations. I love the tones you used here, blue/grey water and sky is subtle, but very nice. I also like the contrast between the yellow brown and the white of the salt. This yellow/brown vs. white contrast reminds me of some of the images by Craig Moreau taken at a snowy Badlands NP. It is a very effective combination.
My only suggestion would be to add some vignetting in the 4 corners, I think it would make the salt holes pop a little bit more.
Thank you. I will try that. I’m having connectivity issues here so I’ll be posting less.
Well, I agree with everything Ed said. There’s something about the brown/white color combination that I find very appealing. With the gentle blues of the water and sky, the color palette is quite calming.
Interesting framing here for me Igor. I like the emphasis on the foreground texture and shapes with just enough of the sky.
What caught my eye was the little dark shapes in the Thumbnail and I had no clue what I was looking at. I was intrigued. The image is so subtle. Very soft browns blues, grays and I have to say that I find the brown turquoise color pallet very inviting. I love the crop on this. Just enough sky but the star of the show are those soft colors and the interesting little black outcroppings and all of the wormy white texture. When I first opened this up I thought that the horizon was needing a little clockwise rotation but I think it might be an optical illusion with the horizon.
Great image Igor! I really like the overall blue grey tones which are complemented by the tan foreground. But what really stands out for me to make this a great image are the black holes, they are so sharp and clear and really make the main subject “pop”! By chance did you capture a vertical comp with more sky? Thats the only thing that I am curious about changing.
No I did not. I tried orienting the camera for a vertical in the field but didn’t like it. I didn’t take a test shot in that manner. These salt flats stretch indefinitely so a horizontal just seems normal.
You’re right about those black holes. IMO they make the difference. You can make a composition with the salt and the sky but it’s really the black that adds a twist to it all.
1 Like
I gave this one more thought and decided to see if the holes added or made things worse. Above I have added a version without the holes in the salt. What do you think? Which is better? I would appreciate your thoughts.
IMO, much better with the holes. When I view this, the contrast created by the holes serves as a strong entry point to the image for my eye. To me the holes make thte image more dynamic, and reinforce the pattern created by the white salt.
1 Like
